Oil check towel



1958 L. KACZANOWSKI 2,862,219

OIL CHECK TOWEL Filed Oct. 18, 1955 INVENTOR. lid/V420 A14 CZA/VOWSK F76. 3 BY OIL CHECK TOWEL Leonard Kaczanowski, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application October 18, 1955, Serial No. 541,119

1 Claim. (Cl. 15-131) This invention relates to a towel or wiper to be used by service station attendants when a check of a customers oil is being made.

Ordinarily, the practice followed by a service station attendant when an oil check is being made, is to utilize a rag which will generally be dirty from previous uses. If, when the oil check is made, it is found that the oil is at a low level or is dirty, the dip stick is brought to the customer. The towel is generally held at the lower end of the dip stick so that it may catch any oil that may tend to drip therefrom.

Under these circumstances, a poor impression is made upon the customer due to the fact that an unclean towel is used, and this in turn often results in a decision on the part of the customer to defer, for the present, an oil change which in actuality is needed. The decision is influenced, it should be noted, by the fact that the unclean towel fails to distinguish clearly in shade from that of the oil, so that one may not fully realize the dirtiness of the lubricant.

In view of the above, it is proposed to provide a clean, disposable towel that will clearly show the dirtiness of the oil by contrast of the same against the light background of the towel, and to further provide on each towel a frangible container holding a small quantity of clean oil, which container can be broken open by the attendant to permit the clean oil to flow onto the towel adjacent the dip stick. The contrast is thus further heightened, and the customer immediately sees the extent to which the oil in his engine has become dirty.

Among further important objects of the invention are the provisions of a wiping towel that will be inexpensive, but will still promote oil sales to a high degree; can be readily assembled in pad form; will not interfere with the normal operations performed elsewhere on the vehicle by the attendant; and will be particularly eflicient in respect to the cleaning of the dip stick following use of the towel.

Other objects will appear from the following description, the claim appended thereto, and from the annexed drawing, in which like reference characters designate like parts throughout the several views, and wherein:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of a pad of wiping towels formed according to the present invention;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of said pad;

Figure 3 is a view partly in edge elevation and partly in vertical section of one of the towels per se; and

Figure 4 is an enlarged detail sectional view on line 44 of Figure 3.

Referring to the drawings in detail, designated at 10 is a belt engaging clip formed substantially of an inverted U-shape and having a shortened outer leg integral at its lower end with a horizontally elongated, rectangular plate 12.

Riveted or otherwise fixedly secured to and projecting outwardly from the plate 12, at locations spaced lengthwise on the plate, are pad support arms 14. These are disposed in parallel relation, and at their outer ends merge into upstanding bight portions 16 which, in turn, merge into reversely extending horizontal end portions 18, the free ends of which are spaced outwardly from the plate 12.

nite States Patent Slidable on the end portions 18 are sleeves 20, shiftable between the full and dotted line positions shown in Figure 2. Projecting outwardly from the plate 12 are short studs 21 aligned with and spaced from the end portions 18 of said arms.

A plurality of wiping towels, generally designated at 22, is carried in pad form by arms 14. Each towel comprises a rectangular piece of soft absorbent paper folded upon itself to provide contacting folds 24 having registering openings 26 receiving arm 14.

In attaching the pad to the clip, one first shifts sleeve 20 to the dotted line position of Figure 2, clear of stud 21. With the respective sleeves in this position, the towels 22 are entered through the spaces between studs 21 and end portions 18 and are shifted past bight portions 16 onto arms 14. Sleeves 20 are then returned to a position bridging end portions 18 and stud 21. A frictional engagement of the sleeves with studs 21 is provided to hold the sleeves in place.

A small container or envelope 28 is stapled at 30 to each towel, and holds a few drops of clean oil 32. Thus, when the attendant has brought the dip stick to the cus tomer, the envelope 28 can be broken, causing the clean oil to flow onto the towel next to that flowing onto the towel from the dip stick. The customer immediately, as a result, perceives the extent to which the engine oil has become dirty by comparing it to the clean oil, and in this way, is influenced toward a decision to change his engine oil.

Each towel, of course, is torn away from the pad sup port clips when the oil is being checked, and is subsequently disposed of, leaving a clean towel exposed for the next occasion on which a customers oil is to be checked.

Further, it will be seen that apart from being influenced towards the purchase of new oil, the customer is favorably impressed by the use of a clean towel, thus further promoting sales by the service station.

It is believed apparent that the invention is not necessarily confined to the specific use or uses thereof described above, since it may be utilized for any purpose to which it may be suited. Nor is the invention to be necessarily limited to the specific construction illustrated and described, since such construction is only intended to be illustrative of the principles, it being considered that the invention comprehends any minor change in construction that may be permitted within the scope of the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

A wiping towel for cleaning the dip stick of an internal combustion engine comprising a wide sheet of a disposable, highly absorbent material folded intermediate its ends to provide contacting portions of said sheet over the full area of the same when the sheet is folded; a tearable container overlying one of said portions and having a quantity of an engine lubricant confined therein, said container being so disposed as to effect flow of the lubricant onto the surface of the associated sheet portion on tearing of the container; and means connecting said container to both of said portions to hold the portions in face to face contact while at the same time attaching the container thereto.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Goetz Mar. 16, 1954 

